Govt lacks full data on forest concessions

JAKARTA (JP): The government admitted yesterday it still lacks reliable data on the ownership and operations of the country's timber companies, which are often blamed for causing forest fires and damaging the environment.

Minister of Forestry and Plantations Muslimin Nasution, appointed minister only last month, said that even he and the ministry's senior officials are unclear about the ownership of the forest concessions because data left by his predecessor only showed the names of the operating timber companies.

"The current data only shows the names of the companies but not their owners' names. The data should be reviewed by adding the names of the people behind those companies," he said.

"It will, therefore, take more time to detect whether they are involved in KKN (corruption, collusion and nepotism) practices," he said when asked about his recent promise to review timber companies' contracts, particularly those involved in illegitimate practices such as obtaining logging contracts due to their close relations with former president Soeharto and his cronies.

Muslimin said the ministry was compiling data on names and operations of all forest concession holders in the country.

"God willing, the names of all forests concessionaires will be collected and announced transparently to the public in two weeks," he promised.

Timber and plantation companies are often criticized for their lack of attention to protecting the environment and also often blamed for causing forest fires.

Muslimin said strict punishments would be imposed on timber companies found to have violated the sustainable forest management regulations or caused forest fires.

"The management of those disobedient concessions can be handed over to state timber companies and cooperatives or offered to the public through an open bidding system," he said.

In the future his ministry will employ an open bidding system in issuing concession contracts to ensure that only those with a strong commitment to protecting the forest, environment and local people win the contracts.

Former environment minister Emil Salim suggested yesterday that concession rights be given only to companies which could offer the most benefits to local people and the state, such as through contributions of resource rent tax to be used for the reforestation purposes.

Their offers should be made through "transparent and open public bidding", Emil told participants at a discussion on forest concessions held by Atma Jaya University here.

Emil said bidding to select companies entitled to get the concession rights was a way to return to the power of market mechanisms lost to the power of the government.

However, he said the resource rent tax and the reforestation fund should be used for replanting only and that the fund must be embodied into the state budget to ensure the accountability of its use.

Another needed measure was to seriously implement a nationwide spatial master plan to ensure proper use of land and forests, Emil said.

"The question to ask in this case for instance is: what will be the face of East Kalimantan in 2020? How much land is being allocated for industry, plantations, agriculture, even for protecting species, etcetera? So the competing uses of the forest must be settled first through master planning.

"We can't dedicate all our forest for concessions," Emil said.

The government first began to award forest concessions to private companies through the 1971 Forestry Law, which granted concessionaires the sole right to exploit and cultivate forests in their concession area.

There are currently 437 forest concessions in the country.

Private concessions -- which cover more than 61 million hectares of forest -- are mostly in the hands of 50 leading groups, including Kalimanis Group owned by Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, Barito Pacific Timber owned by Prajogo Pangestu, Sujono Varinata's Djajanti Group, PT Alas Kesuma owned by Handjaja and Nana Suparna and Mercu Buana Group owned by Probosutedjo, Soeharto's half-brother.

Informed sources say most of the forest concessions owned by the 50 leading groups are partly owned by Soeharto's family and their cronies such as Bob Hasan and Prajogo Pangestu. (gis/aan)